City gets first peek at austere budget

Ridgecrest's city council and public got a overlook of the budget presentations made by city staff at the first of two days of public hearings Thursday night.

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest's city council and public got a overlook of the budget presentations made by city staff at the first of two days of public hearings Thursday night.Public Works, Public Services and Administration were all put on the spot during the presentations as the city is looking to reduce its budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.The overall synopsis was that some departments would gain some small increase while others would see a downshift in general fund financing.City Manager Dennis Speer and Finance Director Rachelle McQuiston outlined some of the overall goals for the FY 2014 budget, including a need to fund the highest-need services first, reformatting the budget into an easier, more transparent document and reduce overhead across the board.Speer indicated those top priorities would include public safety, infrastructure needs and providing the city with sustainable growth.McQuiston, however, pointed out that the next year's budget was not going to please everyone.“This has been a very difficult budget and we will have to make very difficult decisions,” McQuiston said.Any budget increases in any of the city's general fund departments would be offset with corresponding decreases in other departments, she said.McQuiston also spelled out one other thing: There would be almost no general fund reserve for the upcoming 2014 fiscal year.“It would just have decimated some services but what I am committed to is if we receive any revenue above what we expect, it will go toward a general fund reserve,” she said.One of the goals the city should be looking toward is growth and generating more revenue after years of cutting to balance a budget, she said.Local resident Stan Rajtora called into question the lack of a general fund, indicating that at least some portion be maintained.“If we have no reserve that built into the budget, it seems going into a budget it seems we are just asking for trouble,” Rajtora said.Public WorksThe floor turned over to Public Works, with Speer taking the floor as his dual role as public works director.Speer indicated his budget was prepared without any addition from Measure L sales tax revenue, but included a supplement from the presentation.The public works department draws its revenue from different funds, including Wastewater Enterprise, Transportation Development Act funds and the Gas Tax Fund.Its only general fund component is engineering and administration costs, which accounted for $240,010 in the current fiscal year.Speer proposed knocking the budget for FY 2014 down to $206,000.The other pots of money funding public works was $1 million for streets, $ 375,000 for street repairs, $936,291 for transit services, $1.6 million for Wastewater operations from the Wastewater Enterprise Fund and fleet maintenance for $350,875 from the Fleet Internal Service Fund.One of the larger sticking points with the council was over which portions of Public Works budget came from the general fund.“The public works budget is one of the most confusing because it comes out so much different pots of money,” Mayor Pro Tem Jason Patin said. Speer proposed decreases to each of the funds with the exception of the Wastewater, which he increased to $2.03 million, stressing the need for increasing the spending for replacing sewer pipes as suggested by a consultant.The one significant drop in funding was to street repair supplies, which saw a drop from $375,000 in 2013 to $20,827 for the proposed 2014 budget, something Patin pointed out.“Where is the money going,” Patin said pointedly. He followed up by stating he wanted to make sure it was not being funneled somewhere else.McQuiston, the finance director, indicated that while the budget was more realistic representation of FY 2014's budget, she did not have a clear indication of what was going on, and would follow up.Public ServicesSpeer took over the floor for Public Services, which includes the city's building services and planning departments.The proposed budget for Public Services, which was is made up of Building and Planning divisions, would see a shift in budgets.For the Planning division, it would be reduced to $198,400 from $207,159 in 2013. Building would see increase under the staff recommendations from $282,634 to $316,700 in 2014.Speer said the planning budget was above the initial baseline budget because of an additional housing element.Vice Mayor Chip Holloway asked what percentage of permitting and inspections was done by the county and which were handled internally by the staff.Speer indicated that the city contracts out for the building plan checking and inspection portions of the permit process, while city staff handles applications, information and other aspects.Patin clarified that actual expenses for plan checks and inspections came out of applicants pockets, not the city coffers.When Councilwoman Lori Acton asked how far behind the city was in incorporating its housing element, Speer said the city was three years behind.Acton said that it might affect the city's ability to secure grants for other types of services.Administration/General GovernmentThe spotlight turned to the city's administration costs, which constitute the city clerk, city manager, economic development and the city's information technology departments.Economic development was alone in those not funded by the general fund, relying mostly on the remnants of the city's defunct redevelopment agency and its transition to the Successor Agency.McQuiston, the finance director, indicated that the city manager's budget would be $150,000 for the FY 2014 year, on par with what was budgeted for the FY 2013 and down significantly from the $244,000 in 2012.McQuiston noted that one thing benefitting the general fund was the eradication of ISFs and the fact that Speer was wearing multiple hats by acting as city manager and public works director.Overall, it was a 38 percent decrease from 2012.The city clerk's office saw a bump from $146,638 in 2012 to $166,637 in 2014. The city clerk's office is responsible for numerous duties, including keeping the municipal code, overseeing city elections and manages workers compensation issues and acts as the city's public information officer.McQuiston noted the increase was due to the eradication of the ISF funds, which in the past split the city clerk's salary into different portions.Economic development saw the largest conversation among council and the public, with Economic Development Manager Gary Parsons called to navigate through the minutia of that aspect of the city's budget.Parson's overall explanation was simple: The general fund contributed very little to that aspect of city government.The details, however, were more detailed.Economic Development is expected to expend $226,573 for 2014 based on the proposal, and has $250,000 from the state for administration costs.Parsons said that the state provides all funding for the position as part of the wind down effort of its various RDAs. The process requires the city's successor agency to apply for it via enforceable obligation requests.Many projects were hung up to dry because of the RDA's dissolution and development work could not be done on existing properties until the completion of a property management plan and certification of compliance from the California Department of Finance.Former Vice Mayor Jerry Taylor called the council to task for not showing the whole picture behind the RDA costs and hoped he would see them in future discussions.On information technology, which a portion of every department's budget is funneled into, McQuiston said it would get $511,000 for FY 2014. “They are necessary for our daily routine,” McQuiston said, stating they served multiple roles from keeping the systems going to problem shooting issues out in the city's solar fields.“They are very valuable to my sanity,” she quipped.However, the budget is down from $698,672.94 in 2012.“What we're getting is basically what we need to function as a city for this next fiscal year,” she said. “So hopefully no major catastrophes happen that the system doesn't crash.”Holloway asked if the city had looked at any potential of replacing its aging computer system for something more efficient.McQuiston said that the city would have to front the costs, and any return in investment would only be seen after six months. She added the city budget could not justify a new system at the time.Acton suggested looking at the payroll system as well, calling it a stone tablet with a chisel. When councilman Jim Sanders recommended finding alternative methods to share data between various departments that could alleviate stress from the IT department, McQuistion said she could ask for ideas and have them present for the next budget hearing.The next meetings are Saturday at City Hall from 9 a.m. to noon and again from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.